Montgomery Sets Mark, Smith Homers Three Times for Dogs, RedHawks Complete Sweep
American Association Daily provides insights, features, and recaps of the action from around the American Association of Professional Baseball League, as well as player and coaching profiles and transactions. In today’s edition, Robert Pannier recaps the seven games in the American Association on Thursday, including the Sioux City Explorers defeating the Lincoln Saltdogs to give Manager Steve Montgomery the most wins in franchise history, the Milwaukee Milkmen down the Kansas City Monarchs, and Harrison Smith homers three times in the Chicago Dogs lost to the Winnipeg Goldeyes. This and much more.
Montgomery Sets Wins Mark
The Sioux City Explorers scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning to down the Lincoln Saltdogs, 7-4. The victory was the 427th in Manager Steve Montgomery’s career with the Explorers, giving him the all-time franchise record.
The Explorers took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but the Saltdogs tied the score in the bottom of the third. Single runs in the fourth and fifth put Sioux City back on top, but Patrick Caulfield homered to lead off the seventh and Ryan Long hit a sacrifice fly to knot the score at four. In the ninth, Sebastian Zawada and gave his team the lead for good, leading off the frame with his fifth homerun of the year.
Max Kuhns earned the victory, tossing 1.2 innings of scoreless relief. Thomas McIlraith came on in the ninth to earn his 12th save of the season. Nate Samson had three hits and Zawada scored two runs. Caulfield, Hunter Clanin and Drew Devine each had two hits for the Saltdogs.
Sioux City Explorers Recap by Sioux City Explorers
Lincoln Saltdogs Recap by Michael Dixon
10-Run Ninth Completes Railroaders Comeback
The Cleburne Railroaders scored 10 runs in the top of the ninth inning to earn a 15-6 victory over the Gary SouthShore RailCats. The RailCats had taken a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the sixth and held a one run lead going into the ninth, but the Railroaders sent 14 men to the plate in the ninth, hitting two homers to seal the victory.
Cleburne took the lead in the top of the first, scoring two runs but Jesus Marriaga cut the deficit in half when he led off the second with his third homerun of the year. In the third, Daniel Lingua tied the score and Jonathan Engelmann gave Gary SouthShore the lead with a two run double. The Railroaders tied the score in the top of the fourth on a two-run single by Zach Nehrir only to watch the RailCats retake the lead with two more in the bottom of the sixth.
Leading 6-5 heading into the ninth, the RailCats turned to Jared Price who gave up all 10 runs on nine hits and a walk. Nick Shumpert hit a three-run homer and Chase Simpson added a three-run shot of his own. Hunter Cervenka earned the victory, tossing a scoreless inning of relief. Simpson finished 3-5 with three runs and four RBI. Kacy Clemens had three hits and drove in three and Chuck Taylor had three hits and scored four times. Lingua had three hits for the RailCats and Marriaga had two hits and scored two runs.
Gary SouthShore RailCats Recap by Ryan Zimmerman
Seven-Run First Propels Milkmen Past Monarchs
The Milwaukee Milkmen scored seven runs in the first inning, helping them to double up the Kansas City Monarchs, 14-7. Milwaukee took the lead on a three-run homer by Keon Barnum and Logan Trowbridge added a three-run shot to close out the scoring in the first. The Milkmen added two more in the fourth, but Kansas City battled back with a single run in the fifth and three in the sixth to make it a 9-5 game.
However, the Milkmen scored two more in the bottom of the sixth to extend the lead back to six. The Monarchs continued to battle, putting two more up in the top of the eighth, but the Milkmen responded with three more in the bottom half of the frame to seal the victory. Correlle Prime hit a two-run homer in the inning.
Jake Matthys earned the victory moving to 4-5. Barnum finished 3-5 with two runs and four RBI. Prime had three hits and drove in three and Trowbridge scored two runs and drove in three. Willie Abreu hit is 12th homer of the season for Kansas City. David Thompson had two hits and scored two runs.
Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Caleb Grizzle
Fuentes Shines in Cougars Victory
José Fuentes allowed one run in 6.0 innings as the Kane County Cougars downed to the Lake Country DockHounds, 7-1. Fuentes shut down the DockHounds for the first five frames, giving his team the opportunity to jump out to a 4-0 lead. Sherman Johnson put Kane County on top with an RBI single in the second and homeruns by Ernie De La Trinidad and Cornelius Randolph extended the lead to three in the third.
Lake Country was finally able to get on the board on an RBI single by Gabriel Noriega in the sixth, but that would be all the offense the DockHounds could produce. The Cougars bullpen provided three scoreless innings of relief.
Randolph and Josh Rolette each finished with two hits and scored two runs. Jimmy Kerrigan hit his 21st homerun of the season for the Cougars. Gio Brusa had two hits for Lake Country.
Grauer Dominates as RedHawks Complete Sweep
Tyler Grauer tossed seven shutout innings to lead the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks to a 5-1 victory over the Sioux Falls Canaries, helping Fargo to complete the three-game sweep. Grauer was spectacular, allowing four hits and three walks while striking out five.
The Fargo-Moorhead lineup gave their starter a 4-0 lead, scoring single runs in each of the first four innings. John Silviano gave his team the lead with a sacrifice fly in the first, and Christian Correa added an RBI single in the second. Manuel Boscan led off the third with his 13th homerun of the season and Boscan added a sacrifice fly in the fourth.
The lead became five in the top of the eighth when Correa drove in his second run of the game. Sioux Falls finally got on the board on a Kona Quiggle homerun with two down in the ninth. Tyler Garkow pitched well for the Canaries, allowing four runs in 7.0 innings. Correa had three hits for the RedHawks and Nick Novak had two hits and scored two runs.
Goldeyes Pound Out Victory Over Dogs
The Winnipeg Goldeyes rapped out 18 hits and scored runs in seven of the nine innings as they defeated the Chicago Dogs, 14-7. Winnipeg took the lead with single runs in the first and second innings, then made it a 5-1 lead with three runs in the top of the fourth. Deon Stafford had a two run double in the frame.
That started a run of five straight innings where the Goldeyes scored, including two in the fifth, three in the sixth and seventh innings, and one in the eighth. The Dogs put up a run in the fourth, two in the fifth, and single runs in the sixth, eighth, and ninth, but fell far short. The Dogs suffered the loss despite the fact that Harrison Smith hit three solo homeruns in the game.
Every player in the Goldeyes lineup had at least one hit. Eric Rivera and Raul Navarro each had three hits for Winnipeg. The 5-9 hitters were a combined 10-22 with 11 runs scored and seven RBI.
Winnipeg Goldeyes Recap by Steve Schuster
Chicago Dogs Recap by Sam Brief
Three Stars of the Night
No. 3 – Chase Simpson (Cleburne Railroaders) 3-5, 3 R, Double, 4 RBI, BB
No. 2 – Tyler Grauer (Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks) 7.0 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 0 ER, 5 K
No. 1 – Harrison Smith (Chicago Dogs) 3-5, 3 R, 3 HR, 3 RBI
American Association Daily Notes
Steve Montgomery became the winningest manager in Sioux City Explorers history, winning his 427th game on Thursday. That passes Ed Nottle on the all-time list… Cleburne Railroaders IF Kacy Clemens extended his hitting streak to 19 straight games on Thursday, tying the longest streak in the American Association this season… The Cleburne Railroaders are 4-28 when trailing entering the ninth. The four victories are the most ninth inning comeback wins of any team in the league.
Transactions
Kane County: Released RHP Danny Taggart
Milwaukee: Placed RHP Myles Smith on the Injured List retroactive to July 17
Sioux Falls: Activated C John Nester from the Injured List; Transferred the contract of OF Wyatt Ulrich to the San Diego Padres
By Robert Pannier
